Musto is a tax lawyer who served on the Trumbull Town Council and now is co-chair of the General Assembly's Human Services Committee. He supported Malloy's deficit solutions, which included higher taxes, fees and union concessions.

Ciocci is a Fairfield real estate agent who studied philosophy at Fordham University. He has worked as a lobbyist in New York City and Washington, D.C. Ciocci is a firebrand Republican, arguing for lower taxes, spending and smaller government.

The 22nd District is one of the most diverse in the region. It includes Trumbull, a portion of Bridgeport's north end and a section of Monroe.

Musto said Ciocci is simply wrong in his relentless criticism of Malloy's budget and the governor's efforts to plug billion-dollar deficits.

"That's all I've heard about from my opponent. But the budget is complicated. At the state level we lowered spending. The tax raise protected things like municipal aid and education spending. Property taxes would've gone up without it," Musto said.

Ciocci vows to repeal what he called the "Musto-Malloy budget." He wants less spending, taxes and debt.

"My opponent is a tax-and-spend liberal who implemented, with the governor, the largest retroactive tax increase in state history. It's hurt a lot of people," Ciocci said. "This is not liberal government; this is not conservative government; this is bad government."

Musto said that while taxes went up, many programs that help thousands were saved.

"We did this for the seniors, the disabled and impoverished people. We helped people stay in their homes," Musto said. "People are still worried, and rightly so. We have been making some good programs like the Step Up program that gives job credits to returning veterans."

Besides, Ciocci has raised his share of taxes, Musto said. "There has to be a recognition that my opponent voted for a (town) budget that raised taxes more than the state. They raised taxes 22 percent in one year. They also spent money for the schools and to pave roads."

Ciocci said Musto's accusation is "totally false. That figure is wrong. This past year we saw taxes go down."

Both candidates agreed that one of the biggest issues for voters is jobs but disagreed on how to create them.

Musto pointed to recent economic development projects like Jackson Laboratory's plan to bring scientific research to the state and ESPN's decision to expand in state as examples of creating jobs. Musto said the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits and other assistance for firms will help create thousands of new jobs.

Ciocci called Connecticut the "capitol of crony capitalism" over the state's penchant for giving huge corporations tax breaks and loans to relocate or remain in the state.

"We would not be forced to give out sweetheart deals if we had a business-friendly environment. Look at the models in Texas and Florida. It's a low-tax, low-spending and low-regulation model," Ciocci said.